Baton Rouge Labor Force : Baton Rouge Area Chamber

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Labor Force
Distribution by Industry
Wage Rates
Training
Availability

Labor Force

The Baton Rouge Region is home to a civilian labor force of 356,000 with a five-year growth rate of 5.6%.

According to the Louisiana Department of Education, in 2003, 51% of graduating high school seniors went on to 2- and 4- year colleges. 68% of private high school graduates went on to college as did 47% that graduated from a public high school. Approximately 49% of high school graduates are able to enter the workforce directly from high school.

Work Force Education
Parish	High School Graduate or higher	Bachelor's Degree or higher
Ascension	84%	17%
East Baton Rouge	94%	32%
East Feliciana	76%	14%
Iberville	72%	12%
Livingston	82%	13%
Point Coupee	75%	15%
St. Helena	74%	14%
West Baton Rouge	79%	13%
West Feliciana	62%	13%

Louisiana has skilled manufacturing laborers, with experienced workers in almost every type of industrial job. According to data released by the Bureau of Census in the Annual Survey of Manufacturers, Louisiana manufacturing workers are 1st in productivity measured by value of shipments per production worker, and are 4th most productive in the United States in value added per production worker (Bureau of Census, November 2002). http://www.census.gov/econ/overview/ma0300.html

Click here for average employment by NAICS code for the Baton Rouge MSA and each of the nine parishes in the MSA.

Distribution by Industry

Baton Rouge Area Employment by Industry: 100% represents 355,000 workers. 15% Business, Professional & Financial Services; 11% Retail; 11% State Government & Higher Education; 9% Local Government; 9% Hospitality & Leisure; 8% Industrial Services & Heavy Construction; 8% Manufacturing; 3% Real Estate & Commercial Construction; 16% Other

Wage Rates

Wages by Occupation
Occupation	2005 Wage ($)
Accountant	45,161
Auto Service Tech.	30,023
Carpenter	33,073
Chemical Tech.	48,090
Comp. Operator	26,914
Electrician	38,982
Exec. Assistant	30,671
File Clerk	18,012
Crane & Tower	33,486
Janitor	16,861
Mach. Maintenance	34,716
Painters/Construction	30,734
Posting Clerk	23,693
Production Manager	77,047
Receptionist	19,572
Security Guard	22,665
Trucking, Light	25,351
Trucking, Heavy	31,199
Welder	35,974
Word Processor	22,833

Source: Louisiana Occupational Employment Survey, November 2005, Louisiana Department of Labor

Click here for full list of weekly wages by industry for the Baton Rouge MSA and Louisiana.

Training

The Baton Rouge Community College offers an Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWTP) as a partnership between Louisiana Department of Labor (LDOL), business and industry and a training provider, such as Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC). The IWTP is designed to benefit business and industry by assisting in the skill development of existing employees and thereby increasing employee productivity and the growth of the company. The BRCC also offers a number of Health Care Professional Certification training programs.

There are six branches of the Louisiana Technical College located throughout the Baton Rouge region. Workforce training programs include automotive technology, aviation maintenance technology, diesel powered equipment technology, electromechanical technology, industrial maintenance technology, pipefitter fabrication, pipe welder apprenticeship, practical nursing, respiratory therapists, sheetmetal apprenticeship, shipfitter fabrication, and welding, among other programs.

Louisiana Business and Technology Center (LBTC), located on the LSU Campus, is dedicated to small business development of both new and existing businesses.

LBTC provides the following services:

Small business incubation services
Management assistance and small business counseling services
Technology transfer and commercialization assistance and SBIR/STTR assistance
Financial analysis in preparation for access to capital
Entrepreneurial educational training
Referral to fee-based professional and advisor resources

Availability

The Baton Rouge MSA has a current unemployment rate of 3.8%. The unemployment rate measures those actively seeking jobs. A more accurate measurement of the potential labor force is the employment rate. The Baton Rouge MSA employment rate is 64.4%.

Total population 16 years and over
= 485,303

Eligible working age population that is employed
= 312,905

Employment rate
= 312,905/485,303
= 64.4%

The Baton Rouge MSA employment rate is higher than the national average of 63.0%. It should be noted that the employment rate differs considerably from the unemployment rate in that the employment rate is measuring employed as a percent of the population 16 years of age and over while the unemployment rate measures the unemployed as a percent of the labor force.